# CSEL: The Computer Science Education Lab

The CSEL is located in [ECCS 112 and ECCS
128](http://www.colorado.edu/campusmap/map.html?bldg=EC). Your Buff
OneCard is requred for access to the lab. Faculty, staff, and students
(either in the CS department or enrolled in a [CSCI
course](http://www.colorado.edu/cs/computer-science-course-catalog)
should have access to the CSEL resources.

Please email [help@cs.colorado.edu][help] for help, questions, or
comments.

**NB:** All general purpose machines (PCs and remote access) use NFS
home directories, so your data is persistent and shared across all of
the CSEL systems. If you are running an IO-bound job, consider using the
shared scratch space mounted on `/local`.
**NB 2:** Please do not assume any serious security for these home directories
and do not store any confidential info there.

## PCs in the lab

The are a number of PCs available for academic use. The current specs
are:

- Intel Core i7-2600 Quad Core 3.4 GHz
- AMD Radeon HD 6670 GPU [(Northern Islands)](http://xorg.freedesktop.org/wiki/RadeonFeature)
- 16 GB RAM
- NFS `/` (root) and `/home`

The current, available PXE images are:

- Ubuntu 16.04.x amd64
- Ubuntu 14.04.x amd64 (deprecated)

If you need a custom image for special settings, preferred Linux
distribution, etc, please [send us an email][help].

### nVidia ``Graphics'' Machine

In ECCS 128 there is a special machine which can be used by anyone but
students in the graphics classes have priority. This machine has:

- Intel Core i7-4771 (Haswell) Quad Core 3.5 GHz
- nVidia GeForce GTX 780, 3GB GDDR5
- 32 GB RAM
- Samsung 840 Pro SSD (for `/` (root))
- NFS `/home`
- Dell 2560x1440 Monitor

## Remote Access

You may access the lab remotely via SSH (SCP, SFTP) using your
[IdentiKey](http://www.colorado.edu/oit/services/identity-access-management/identikey)
and password. The current remote access machines are:

- elra-01.cs.colorado.edu - Ubuntu 16.04.x amd64
- elra-02.cs.colorado.edu - Ubuntu 16.04.x amd64
- elra-03.cs.colorado.edu - Ubuntu 16.04.x amd64
- elra-04.cs.colorado.edu - Ubuntu 16.04.x amd64

As with the workstation images, please [email us][help] if you need a
custom image for a class, student project, etc.

### VPN

You can get access to the campus (and CSEL) networks using [OIT provided
VPN](http://www.colorado.edu/oit/services/network-internet-services/vpn)

## GitLab

We have a private [GitLab](https://www.gitlab.com) server located at
https://git.cs.colorado.edu. You can access it using your Identikey
and password.

It is advised to use https://www.gitlab.com instead, as it is
supported by bigger staff and thus is more reliable. https://www.gitlab.com
supports private repos.

## Printer

There's a printer in the lab. Feel free to print. Don't waste paper.

## Websites

**Note: As of Spring 2016, we have moved to a website hosting setup that only
supports [static websites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_web_page).
If your site previously relied
on [dynamic languages like PHP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_web_page),
you'll need to migrate to using static technologies such as HTML5, javascript,
and/or [static-site generators](https://www.staticgen.com/) such as
[jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/). If you require dynamic hosting support,
you'll need to look to external services such as
[DigitalOcean](https://m.do.co/c/33739e4de8a1) and
[AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/)
(personal projects) or request resources on our in-house
[OpenStack Cluster](https://openstack.cs.colorado.edu)
(course projects).**

You have a student website hosted at
[csel.cs.colorado.edu/~identikey](https://csel.cs.colorado.edu/#). This
site can be located under either `~/public_html` or `~/.www`. If you are
having trouble, make sure the web server has permission to read this
directory.

	$ chmod o+x ~
	$ chmod o+rx ~/.www

## SQL Database

**NOTE: THIS IS NEW AND EXPERIMENTAL. EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
AND YOUR DATA MAY NEED TO BE PURGED!**

There is a mariadb (mysql fork) server located at `sql.csel.io`. Your
username and password to access this database are your identikey and
password (as with all of the CSEL services). You have one database,
named after your identikey, which is created when you log in if it
doesn't already exist. All access to this DB **must be over TLS**.

	$ mysql -h sql.csel.io -u$IDENTIKEY -p --ssl $IDENTIKEY

In addition, phpMyAdmin is available at https://sql.csel.io.

## Software

In addition to the typical software available on the CSEL systems, the
PCs and remote access servers also have
[MATLAB](http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/) installed.

We also have the following academic licenses:

- [Microsoft](dreamspark.md)
- VMWare: [Discontinued]

[help]: mailto:help@cs.colorado.edu

## Passwords

By default, your password for CS Department education systems is your identikey
password. This password is stored by OIT and is the same password that you use
to access your email, mycuinfo, etc. Hence, if you are having password problems
in the lab test against one of those systems.

You can change your password using the `csel-passwd` tool on the
desktops on campus or the elras.

	usage: csel-passwd set|reset|test [IDENTIKEY]

  	  This tool is for changing your CSEL password. If not specified, IDENTIKEY defaults
  	  to your current username ($USER).

  	  set      Set a local CSEL password (will not reflect elsewhere on campus)
  	  reset    Reset back to campus identikey password
  	  test     Test your current password

For example, to change to a local password

	$ csel-passwd set

To go back to the default and defer to your identikey password

	$ csel-passwd reset

[slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tsrShNRlQUFrnuPoZySgK1gHneMaQtBHXXkvZ9j3sno/edit?usp=sharing)

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